


Screams

by eksterteran



Category: Christian Bible (Old Testament)
Genre: F/M, From the Egyptians' POV, The Ten Plagues of Egypt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2018-01-09 21:24:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eksterteran/pseuds/eksterteran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Old Testament tells us about the Ten Plagues of Egypt and how they were perceived by the Hebrews. But what about the Egyptians? What did they think?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Screams

**Author's Note:**

> This was written freshman year of college. I'm so sorry. It is by far NOT my best work, but the professor was so impressed she asked me to get up and read it for the class, so it has a special place in my heart. I thought maybe it deserved a little publicity after years hidden on my computer.

Hava screamed. “In the name of all that Ra blesses…” I thought to myself as I got out of bed. That girl was a handful of nerves, and I wished Apotuk had chosen some other Hebrew girl to watch our children. But, she was the sister of our groom, Dov, and so we had agreed to let her work for us.

She was in the bathroom, and had probably seen a mouse. I would have to yell at her, especially if she had woken up the children with her racket. When I saw the bath, I stopped short; the basin was full of blood. Surely she wasn’t so unhappy here that she would try to kill herself?

“What have you done, girl?!” My shock kept me from speaking kindly to her, and I regretted it. I always try to be nice to my servants. But at the moment I was tired and annoyed.

“Nothing, mistress! I drew the bath and it turned to blood!” She hiccupped, trying not to cry.

“Mama?” Pamonup, our son, walked in rubbing his eyes. As I thought, she had woken him. Ishate was probably hiding around the corner; she followed her older brother everywhere.

“Hava, care for the children. I’ll handle this.” She scurried off, grabbing his hand as she left. I drained the bath, and looked out the window at the tributary of the Nile that ran past our house, a sign of my husband’s standing in Pharaoh’s army. To live near water was a sign of high honor. But this morning, in the dawning light, the water’s color seemed disturbingly dark.

 

Someone screamed. I sighed…it did not sound like our neighbor, but it came from their house, so it was probably a new slave. If this was going to happen every morning, I would never sleep well again.

Hava called to me from outside the room, and led me to the kitchen when I answered her. Pamonup was in the middle of the floor, playing with something, and Ishate was watching shyly behind him. “They’re everywhere, in the food, in the water, in the beds…” Hava was trembling; I don’t think she’d yet gotten over the events of a few days ago.

“What do you have there, my little man?” I knelt beside Pamonup.

“It’s a froggy! There are so many of them! Can I keep them?” He poked the slimy lump in front of him.

“I don’t think so, darling. When daddy comes home we’ll see what he says, okay?”

 

The ground screamed. As I watched, the sand Pamonup was playing in rose around him and lifted into the sky. He and Ishate ran to me…they had sand all over them, especially in their eyes and mouths. They couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breath. I couldn’t see. Something was crawling on me, and my children were crying. It was a struggle, but I managed to see through the cloud around us, to see their faces. It was not sand blowing in the wind…it was tiny gnats.

 

The horses screamed. Running to the stable, I saw Dov desperately trying to quiet them. The air was vibrating; even I could feel it now. Outside, a black cloud swept up from the horizon and blotted out the Sun God. My heart sank at the thought of some new curse come upon us this day.

 

Dov screamed. He was in the stable, as usual, with the animals. His apprentice was beside him, ashen and shaking. Dov looked up at me from beside the body of one of our best horses, one with which he had had a special bond. Animals were Dov’s life, and I could tell from his eyes that he had no life left in him.

 

Ishate screamed. Sobbing, she ran into the room and grabbed my leg. I turned and tried to comfort her, but she recoiled from my touch, and her skin was hot under my hands. Gently, I turned her little face up towards me, and choked. Her body was covered with blisters. I could see my own skin growing red. What kind of strange disease was sweeping our city, killing our animals and assaulting our bodies?

 

Pamonup screamed. Dizzy with anxiety, I rushed to where he was playing by the stream. He and Ishate both, their newly recovered skin still pink in areas, were staring at the sky. Dark clouds had gathered, but rain was always welcome in the desert. My children had immediately run outside to welcome the gift. But now there came a rumbling unusual for even the heaviest storm, and a strange light lit the sky. I hugged my children to me, and where they had been standing something landed from the sky. Reaching for it, another hit my arm…they were some sort of clear rock, and they were colder than the Nile in winter. As more began to fall from the sky, I ran inside carrying my babies, and cast a terrified glance at the burning clouds.

 

The sky screamed. Weary from the hellish storm of a week ago, which had destroyed our crops, and from all the mysterious and terrifying curses that came before, I walked to the window. What now? The gods had taken our food, our animals, our dignity…every few days some new terror would come into our lives. What had we done to deserve this? Were the Hebrews so evil, as many people were saying? Were we being punished for associating with them? A dark mass was moving in from the horizon, and I recalled the flies from before, quickly blocking the windows. Luckily we had gathered the grain shortly before the clear rocks fell from the sky and stored it beside the house. Little did I know that this coming abomination would tear from us every last speck of food we had saved.

 

Apotuk screamed. Jolted awake, I reached for him in the midnight darkness. With the shortage of food he had been staying home from work, letting his underlings worry about controlling the masses of panicked, hungry, angry people. I welcomed having him in my bed again, but was exhausted and did not appreciate being woken in the middle of the night.

“What is it? Go back to sleep husband. It’s not even dawn yet.” I yawned and stroked his back.

“Silence! Lazy woman, it is well past dawn…but I cannot see!” His voice was angry and scared, which frightened me.

“What are you talking about? If it were so late in the morning, there would be light at the windows.”

“I have been in Pharaoh’s army my entire life. I have never slept past dawn, and I can tell it is late in the morning now. I feel it inside. Have you gone blind as well?”

 

I screamed. After all that had happened, I could feel my mind slipping away from me. Hava rushed in and stopped short, staring at Pamonup lying in front of me. Cold and still. Picking up his limp body, I clutched him to me so hard it would have kept him from drawing breath. I clutched him, yearning to feel a heartbeat next to mine. Hava was pulling my arm, yelling at me, but I could not hear her for I was listening for my son to cry. I squeezed until I heard his body crack.

 

The women and children of the city screamed. Sitting in my room, I heard the collective cry of those left behind. Everyone…everything was gone. The gods had taken everything from us, from our slaves, to our most beloved child, and lastly to our men. Any man that was able had followed Pharaoh to get our slaves back. Everyone in the city had gone on in the past months, slowly forgetting the horror of the months before. Forgetting all that was lost. But I could not forget my son. Even as my husband spoke softly to me, telling me he had to go, I did not care. Bringing back the slaves would not bring back joy to my life. I knew he would go, that he had to go, and I knew he would not return. I had been waiting for the screams of the people of the city, when they found out what I already was aware of. As for myself, I no longer had the spirit to scream.


End file.
